FYI
I copied this from **NOT**PERMITTED**.com... link
this is only a part of the report.....
This is the group i have been involved with, the 2009 hunt, this link will explain everything, these guys did post quite a comprehensive report on Kukuzans...
Before you book read the report..
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 1, 2010
VIA EMAIL
Ms. Barbara Crown, Editor The Hunting Report
Dear Ms. Crown;
I would like to report on a problem that has developed regarding the recent troubles being experienced by clients of Global Sporting Safaris, Inc. with Mr. C.J.O. Krys Wessels/Kukuzans Hunting Safaris [and/or Kukuzans Marketing (Pty) Ltd.] in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The first hint of trouble with Kukuzans came in regards to the shipment of trophies taken by Hunting Report subscriber Weston McArtor and his family on a hunt with Kukuzans in 2009. At the request of Mr. McArtor, their trophies were transferred from Kukuzans to Universal Trophy Services in Pretoria for dip/pack and shipping. Universal Trophy Services (Universal) has been holding these trophies ever since pending receipt of the approprioate paperwork from Kukuzans necessary to obtain the export permits and said documentation is still not forthcoming despite repeated attempts by both Global Sporting Safaris, Inc. (GSS), Mr. McArtor, and Rupert Dedekind/Universal to obtain said documentation. Both GSS and Universal have been assured by Mr. Wessels on more than one occasion that the paperwork would be forthcoming and it has yet to be produced. Now Mr. Wessels claims that GSS never paid for the trophies (or did not pay the correct trophy fees) and that he will not provide the requisite information until such time as he has received payment - funny that this never came up until a year post-hunt. We have complete files in this regard and can refute said claim. In the interim period of time, we have talked to the Professional Hunter (PH) that conducted the hunt on behalf of Kukuzans and it appears that the hunt may have been illegal (i.e., Kukuzans either did not have the appropriate authorization to hunt on the property or that the animals were never paid for) and that is why Krys is unable to produce the paperwork necessary for Universal to obtain the export permits for said trophy shipment.
In May of this year, the McArtor family returned to South Africa to hunt with Kukuzans under an agreement reached with Krys directly during the SCI Convention in Reno, with the actual booking handled by GSS.
This was a two-part hunt with a portion of the hunt conducted in South Africa for the family and a second hunt planned in Zimbabwe for their 17 year old son Dakota. GSS expressed concern to the McArtor family over the Zimbabwe portion of the hunt as Krys would not disclose the name of the safari operator he intended to use and we could not, in good conscience, be party to a hunt with any individuals that might be on the list of banned individuals. Moreover, there were issues concerning the cost of the hunt and what was actually being provided by Kukuzans. All the while, Krys was pressing both Mr. McArtor and GSS for payment on the Zimbabwe portion of the hunt. When it finally became apparent that payment would not be forthcoming until we had received information on the safari operator and principals involved therein, Krys divulged that the hunt would be conducted with Bouna Safaris. My research on Bouna Safaris, Travel and Tour was inconclusive concerning individuals on the banned list as there was one female principal with the same last name as a male national named on said banned list - I never received a satisfactory answer to my questions regarding the possibility of a familial relationship. As the departure date for the hunt was rapidly approaching, Mr. McArtor decided to move forward with the hunt despite my concern, an agreement with Kukuzans on what was specifically being included in said hunt (which was documented on the resulting invoice to Mr. McArtor) and payment was wired to Kukuzans on behalf of the McArtor family.
That portion of the hunt in South Africa went fairly smoothly, with Dakota taking a lion with Deon Cilliers/Hunters Safaris (safari@yebo.co.za) and members of the family taking numerous plains game and a roan with J.M. Fourie/Amanzi Private Game Reserve. Unfortunately, Krys has never paid the trophy fees for these animals and they are being held by the property owners for non-payment (approximately $24,000 on Amanzi alone). This can be confirmed with both Hunters Safaris and Amanzi Private Game Reserve. We can also document that the trophy fees were paid directly to Kukuzans in a wire transfer sent on/about June 2, 2010.
Upon conclusion of the South African portion of the hunt, the McArtor family was to be transferred to the Zambezi valley of Zimbabwe via vehicle for the leopard hunt. Their vehicle broke down outside of Polokwane and it was three days before the vehicle was repaired yet Kukuzans never offered to send a replacement vehicle from Bethlehem to continue with the safari or transport the McArtors back to the lodge even though Bethlehem was only two hours (+/-) away. Once the vehicle was repaired, they were denied entry into Zimbabwe because Kukuzans did not have their paperwork in order and they were forced to bribe their way across the border with the monies used for the bribes paid by the accompanying professional hunters as Krys did not initially accompany them to Zimbabwe.
Upon reaching the camp on May 15, they discovered that the tent camp was not finished and were placed in another camp. As stated above, Krys did not accompany them to Zimbabwe stating that he needed to get his gun permits in order and he subsequently advised the McArtor family not to shoot anything until he arrived in camp. He finally arrived on/about May 18, so they lost about four hunting days waiting for him to arrive .
By prior arrangement, Dakota was left in the custody of Krys and Sarie Wessels following the departure of his parents and he was scheduled to spend much of the summer in apprenticeship with Kukuzans. Wes and Lisa departed camp for Harare on May 29 for their return flights to the United States and arrived at Harare only to find that Kukuzans had not made any provisions for their flights back to Johannesburg as agreed. They were forced to purchase their own tickets to JNB even though they had made a lump sum payment to Kukuzans for the Zimbabwe hunt that included all transportation from and to JNB.
On the evening of June 1, Dakota arrowed a big leopard, but did not recover the animal as it was near dark; consequently, tracking of the leopard was postponed until the following morning when the follow-up could be conducted in the daylight. In the interim, Krys strictly forbade the Kukuzans PH (Vaatjie Schoeman) from following up the wounded leopard pending his arrival back in camp. Krys arrived later that afternoon around 3:00 PM and would not allow anyone to accompany him other than the Zimbabwean personnel in following up the leopard. After thirty minutes, Krys returned and declared that the shot had been high and the animal was not recoverable - then offered another leopard to Dakota for a discounted price ($18,000). It was the consensus of opinion of those professional hunters in camp that the leopard could have been recovered (see attached emails) had the tracking begun early that morning and the blood trail followed to its conclusion.
On June 5 Krys departed the camp in Zimbabwe, leaving Dakota behind with Vaatjie, Kevin (a second PH), Theo (Operations Manager for Kukuzans) and Pidy (one of Kukuzans trackers) ostensibly to tag the trophies and follow in a day or so. No arrangements had been made with Bouna Safaris for payment of trophy fees or daily rates prior to his departure despite previous communications between staff and Bouna in this regard. His departure without making arrangements for payment resulted in the entire party, including Dakota, being threatened with arrest by Zimbabwean authorities for non-payment. As Dakota was an underage American citizen, an agreement was reached whereby they were all placed under house arrest by Bouna Safaris (see attached correspondence).
I believe that the attached correspondence will shed some light on the situation and there is no need for me to regurgitate all of this information herein. Suffice it to say that the McArtors paid a great deal of money for the leopard hunt in Zimbabwe and left their underage son in the explicit care of Krys and Sarie Wessels, only to have them desert Dakota and subject him to potential harm in a foreign country resulting from a failure to meet his fiduciary and custodial responsibilities. As you will see, the McArtors made their trophy payment directly to Kukuzans immediately upon their return to the US via wire transfer as previously agreed, yet none of the African parties involved have been paid for services rendered including Hunters Safaris, Amanzi or Bouna Safaris. The staff of Kukuzans involved in this fiasco were also not paid and have all since left the employ of Kukuzans due to non-payment of salaries due.
In addition to the McArtor family, GSS has also booked a number of clients to Kukuzans in the coming months under several long-running promotions that included a combination of international airfare, daily rates and/or trophy fees. Following the debacle with the McArtor family, we began trying to contact Kukuzans, including both Krys and Sarie, in an attempt to determine what was going on, the status of our booked hunters, and the status of their international flights. Neither Krys nor Sarie have been forthcoming with any substantive explanation for non-payment of the McArtor trophy fees, why the paperwork for the 2009 trophies has not been completed, or the status of the other hunts booked.
We have since learned that three hunters scheduled to leave for South Africa in less than thirty days have never received their travel documents from the US travel agency employed by Kukuzans to handle the travel arrangements for these package hunts - which was all handled exclusively by Sarie. Subsequent email messages to Kukuzans in this regard have failed to solicit any response there from or an explanation as to why the flights were not paid for. In light of the current situation, GSS has taken it upon ourselves to book the travel for these hunters at our own expense and we have moved all of our clients scheduled with Kukuzans to another South African outfitter to avoid any further complications.
As I stated in our telephone conversation, we have been advised that Krys has been arrested on at least two separate occasions in South Africa for failure to pay his debts and we are also advised by counsel in South Africa that there are numerous actions being filed against Kukuzans regarding a very disturbing pattern of non-payment, fraud and deceptive business practices on the part thereof. We also believe that Bouna Safaris has filed a complaint against Kukuzans and Krys Wessels in Zimbabwe.
In particular, my clients alone have lost approximately $75,850 in deposits not including the McArtors. The invoiced price tag for the McArtor hunts in South Africa and Zimbabwe was $58,416, which was prepaid prior to the safari, plus an additional $25,900 in trophy fees wired directly to Kukuzans by Lisa McArtor on June 2, 2010 - yet Krys failed to pay Bouna Safaris and subsequently allowed Dakota McArtor and three employees of Kukuzans sit in Zimbabwe under house arrest in the Zambezi valley for several days with no regard for their situation or well being after having been paid in full by Lisa McArtor. Moreover, trophy fees for lion, roan and other plains game taken by the McArtor family on properties owned by Hunters Safaris and Amanzi Private Game Reserve were not paid by Kukuzans which will most likely result in the forfeiture of said trophies unless Mr. McArtor makes payment directly thereto for said trophies OR Kukuzans is compelled to meet their financial obligations.
As stated above, I think that the attached documents will corroborate the information that I have related above. I have no doubt that Theo, Kevin and Vaatjie would be happy to respond to any request(s) for information in this regard. Likewise, I suspect that Bouna Safaris would also be willing to respond to an email request for information in this regard. Please be advised that we have absolutely no complaint whatsoever with Bouna Safaris or their staff and appreciate the way that the affair was handled on their end. Contact information for these individuals is as follows:
Sincerely,
Robert M. Anderson, CWB Africa Program Director Global Sporting Safaris, Inc.
